Munster hold off Saracens with 10-3 win at Thomond Park

Munster 10-3 Saracens, Thomond Park
Scorecard

Peter O'Mahony scored the only try in the game as Munster edged out Saracens 10-3 in the third round of the Heineken Champions Cup at Thomond Park.

The win has taken Munster to the second position in Pool 4 with 11 points while Saracens are at third place with six points.

Saracens were without a number of England internationals, who featured in the recently concluded World Cup in Japan with only Maro Itoje being part of the encounter while the Irish side went with their full-strength available squad.

The opening quarter saw Munster apply pressure but Saracens were firm in defence with the only points coming from a penalty goal from JJ Hanrahan in the 18th minute. The hosts thought they scored the opening try through Mike Haley but it was disallowed as there was a forward pass in the build up.

At the half-hour mark, Munster extended their lead further with O'Mahony crossing over followed by a conversion from Hanrahan as they took their tally to 10 points before the Sarries finally managed to get off the mark with a 37th minute penalty kick from Ben Spencer.

Mark McCall's men had a chance to reduce the gap further at the start of the second half but Spencer's penalty went wide. The teams strived hard to find breakthrough in the second half which they could not manage.

The final minute of the game saw Munster lost Arno Botha to red card for a dangerous tackle but that did not cause any damage to them as they held on to a seven point victory.